Breath Me
by Shaybot12
Summary: Clem is the girl, not particularly the it girl, but thee girl. She's popular and smart and an over all joy to be around. Everyone would think that she's the perfect girl, after all, she can stand up to the resident mean girl and save the world. But everything isn't as perfect as she'd leave you to believe.
1. 01 Teddygozilla

Milly and Tamiya were in the hallway outside the gym recording for their news report. It was an exciting time since everyone was hyped up for the school dance that was held every year, for all class men and women.

"Hello fellow students of Kadic Junior High, it's your ace reports, Milly and Tamiya, are here to give you today's school news, and it's really big. As you already know, tonight is the big night, the night of our annual school prom," the small red haired girl said.

Tamiya panned over to the doors of the gym to look inside, pointing her camera at three students around a ladder. Ulrich Stern, Odd Della Robbia, and Yumi Ishiyama. They were looking up at another one of their friends on the ladder.

"Unfortunately, our camera's weren't authorized to film the area where the festivities take place, but I can make out from where I'm speaking the girl who might be crowned our beauty queen tonight. Just as she was last year, I mean of course, our principal's daughter, Sissi,'" Milly reported, looking in at the gym and smiling.

Said girl walked out of the gym and overlooked the younger girl. Sissi's straight black hair flowed behind her as she walked and her black eyes looked anywhere but at the two sixth grade girls.

"Let's see if she's answer a few questions," Milly said to the camera before looking up at the older girl. "Sissi, how about a few words for our TV audience before the big night?"

"Sorry, munchkins, I only talk to real, pro reports," the principal's daughter said as she started to walk away. One of her followers, a nerd named Herb, covered the girls' camera so that no video of them was shot. "I have n time to waste on a couple of nerds."

"Huh, and yet she let's Nicholas and Herb follow her around like puppies," a voice said, making Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi laugh. Sissi turned and glared back into the gym, even though she couldn't see the source of the voice.

Milly watched Sissi turn and walk away. "But it's for the school news program. What about freedom of the press," she argued, distraught that she was being turned down for such ridiculous reasons.

"Oh, Milly, little dipsticks like you don't have any freedom. Understand?" Sissi asked, turning to look at the pigtailed girl. She put her hands on her hips.

A girl with similar looks to Sissi's came down from the ladder, except her hair was red - though it was more maroon tinted. She had big brown eyes and her hair wasn't styled nearly the same way as Sissi's. Her hair was free of any restraints, as opposed to Sissi's yellow headband. The girl with maroon hair had it done in curls all over the place and yet seemed to gravitate around her head, making it look wild.

She was clad in a denim skirt and black tights with a long sleeved maroon shirt under a grey tank top. The tank top hung loosely from her body and was only long enough to reach above her navel, which was covered by the maroon material that hugged her skin. The maroon shirk stopped just over the hem on her skirt. She had long legs and the skirt stopped short of her mid thigh, which was why she wore the black leggings, which were just dark enough that her pale skin looked darker on her legs.

"Sissi, stop that. We were their age once, remember," the brown eyed girl said, walking out the gym doors to look at her sister. She crossed her arms over her chest and lent against the door frame.

"Oh, please, Clem, it's not like they're real reporters," the twin with the hoop earrings said, rolling her eyes.

"Well they know a lot more than you do," the girl with the maroon hair said. She shook her head and walked over to her twin. "Besides, who are you to say that they won't become the best reporters there ever will be."

Sissi stared at her sister, then rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter. They'd need dates to go to the prom anyway. And i don't know anyone that would want to go with them. Not even Nicholas and Herb would want to go. I bet if she asked them they'rd run like rabbits."

Milly's emotions were getting the best of her and she looked at Sissi. "Who needs them? There's lots of other boys," she defended.

"Oh yeah?" Sissi taunted. She laughed. "What are you waiting for then. Try and find one."

"Stop it, Sissi," Clementine told her sister and started to scold her lowly so no one would hear.

Meanwhile, Milly focused her eyes on the boy holding the ladder in the gym. "Uh, Ulrich, would you- would you be my date tonight?" she asked, tears starting to stream down her cheeks as she was so upset.

Clementine turned her head to pay attention to the scene that was going down and walked over to the fellow red head. She put her hands on her shoulders and looked at Ulrich, who was blushing from embarrassment. She pressed her lips together.

"Uh," he fumbled a bit, "sorry, Milly. It wouldn't be such a good idea. I'm too old for you. And I already promised to go with Yumi."

"You see," Sissi said and laughed.

"That's enough, Elizabeth," Clementine said, raising her voice to her sister. Sissi looked at her shocked.

"Oh whatever, go ahead and feed lies into her head," Sissi said in a huff and turned, walking away with her two followers to go get more decoration supplies.

Milly looked down, then ran for the door. Tamiya ran after her.

Clementine turned her head and looked at Ulrich. "You could have said yes," she said to him.

"What did you want me to do?" he said. She folded her arms.

"I don't know, say yes," the maroon haired girl said. She crossed her arms. "Letting Sissi stomp all over Milly like that makes me feel-"

"Like you could've done more, we know," Odd said and walked over to his friends. He looked at Clementine. "But it's like this, you see. You're the good twin, the hero, the one everybody likes, whereas Sissi is the evil twin who's actually really ugly on the inside and does all the horrible stuff."

"Yeah, I know, but still. She shouldn't put Milly down like that," the brown eyed girl said before looking at Ulrich. "And you could've been a lot nicer to her."

Ulrich watched her silently as she walked past them to a box of streamers. He looked at Yumi and Odd, then looked down.

* * *

Clementine was walking to Milly and Tamiya's room when she heard Milly shouting. She stopped by the door and put her ear close so that she could hear better.

"They don't care about us or the newscast!" she heard Milly crying. "Oh, I hate them, all of them! I hate every single one of them! I hate everybody in the world!"

"You don't know what you're saying," her best friend tried to tell her. Tamiya was the more level headed of the two, and though she was upset about what Sissi had done and said to them and about them, she wasn't going to cry over it. "It's ju-"

"Oh, stop it! I'm sick of you too!" the young redhead shouted at her. The door opened and she ran out, right past Clementine.

Tamiya came out of the room and peeked out, watching her friend run off. "It's true. Ulrich could have been a little nicer."

Clementine nodded in agreement. "I'll go after her," she told the younger girl.

"She just needs time. Plus I think I know where she's running off to," Tamiya told her. She looked up at the older. "Go on back to the gym and help."

"Oh, I'll do more than that," she promised and turned on her heel, her laced up boots making a mark in the rug. She shoved her hands into the pockets on her skirt and sighed.

* * *

"Don't look so gloomy, Ulrich. Is it because of Milly?" Yumi asked from the stage that was set up in the gym. The boy she was talking to was taping down wires. "You could have said yes. You know me and prom."

"Even if I was your date?" Odd asked into the microphone he was supposed to be setting up, but instead he was playing with it.

"Plus, Clem would have understood," Yumi added, ignoring Odd.

Clementine walked into the gym and looked up at her sister, who was standing up on a ladder looking into a disco ball at her own reflection. "Sissi, come down here now. You need to apologize to Milly."

"I will not. I'm right, you know," the black haired twin said.

"Sissi did come on strong, though," Ulrich said, looking up at the twins. He couldn't help but think about how they were possibly twins, let alone sisters. "If meanness is one of the qualities of a beauty queen, then she'll get re-elected alright."

Jeremie Belpois walked over to them with a box and set it down. He didn't have to hear the whole conversation to know who they were talking about. "That's true," he agreed and turned to look at the beauty queen, "but try to get Ms. World to see that."

Odd put the microphone on the stand and laughed into it. "Ms. World? More like Ms. In Her Own World!" he exclaimed and laughed, causing his friends to laugh with him.

Clementine covered her mouth and laughed quietly as Sissi growled in anger at the top of the ladder.

* * *

Clementine had gone to her room to get ready for the prom. She was sitting at her sister's vanity mirror that she insisted they share since Clementine didn't want one of her own. She didn't see the point in having it there if they had the mirror in the girls' restroom, let alone having two.

She could believe her sister and what she had done. She honestly wasn't surprised by it at this point. She had lived with the girl all her live and so it only made sense that Sissi being mean was nothing new.

She heard talking outside, and it was the unmistakable voice of her sister. SHe rolled her eyes and got up from the seat so Sissi wouldn't say anything. She had honestly had enough of her sister. She walked over to her closet and opened it as the door to their shared room opened.

"Take this advice: don't think. It doesn't suit you," she heard Sissi said. The pink clad twin was pressed against the door and looking at it as if it was an idiot.

Clementine didn't say a word as she changed into her dress for the prom, which was just a simple black dress with little red swirls on the bottom of it. She had just finished putting her hair up before her sister walked in.

"A bunch of babies at the prom," Sissi muttered. This made Clementine roll her eyes.

"Will you get over it," she said, turning to her dark eyed sister. "You won already, so just give it up. You made the girl cry, isn't that enough for you?"

Sissi looked at her, in the process of changing. She looked unphased by her twin's words and continued to get ready for the prom. She turned on some music. "She had the nerve to ask Ulrich, and if anyone is going to go with Ulrich to the dance, it should be me."

"Okay, be that way, Elizabeth," Clementine said, using her sister's full name just to annoy her. She grabbed her shoes, black Mary Janes, and walked over to the door. "I hope you lose tonight." She then left the room in a huff.

She walked down the hall and was about to push open the door when she heard a scream, one that was certainly her sister's. She dropped her shoes and ran down the hall. "Sissi!"

She pushed open the door and looked at the mess that had been made, something that looked very perplexing, a little unusual. In the floor, Sissi lay startled. Clementine ran to her and grabbed her robe, covering up her twin protectively before anyone else could come to the door.

"It's okay, I've got you," she said to the shaken up girl.

* * *

Mr. Delmas, the twins' father, was consoling Sissi as he was walking her out of the dormitories. Clementine was behind them. As they walked out, they were met with a crowd, Milly and Tamiya in the front.

"Move along. Back to your dorms," Mr. Delmas said to the students that had gathered. "Everything is alright."

"Looks like we've got ourselves a super scoop," Milly said with her notepad in hand. As she said that, Tamiya snapped a picture.

Mr. Delmas and Sissi walked through the crowd as Clementine took the polaroid and looked at the girls. "Sorry girl, but I have to be a sister sometimes," she told them. She looked over and saw her friends standing behind a column.

She walked back inside and to her dorm, which was a mess. She looked in and then behind her as she heard the end hall door open. Her friends walked down the hall.

"So tell me, Jeremie, what does this look like to you? Was it XANA?" she asked, taking a peek back into the room.

Yumi got onto the other frame of the door to look in as well while Odd and Ulrich were standing by, keeping watch for anyone encase any questions came up. Jeremie stood between them all, in the middle of the door.

"A simple short circuit. Too many appliances plugged in at the same time," the blonde genius told them.

Clementine looked at him, tilting her head up unsure. She trusted Jeremie's opinion, of course, but something just didn't seem right. She had seen her sister use so many appliances at once. It didn't add up.

"Yeah, hi fi lights, lady shaver, curling iron. All plugged in at once, what do you expect to happen?" Yumi asked and turned, walking away.

Odd followed her, but Jeremie and Clementine stayed to look in a little longer. Ulrich looked at them from his spot on the wall.

"Something still doesn't look right, huh?" Clementine asked, looking at her glasses wearing friend. He hummed and then looked at her.

"Hard to say," he told her, then followed the other two down the hall. Clementine looked back in, then turned to follow, but stopped as she almost ran into Ulrich who was right behind her.

"You don't mind walking around in your dress before the dance?" he asked her.

"I don't really believe in dramatized entrances," she told him simply. Ever since she was young she had never wanted to be exactly like Sissi, and she never had been.

"Well," he said, blushing softly, "you look very nice."

She blushed a bit as well. "Oh, uh, thank you, Ulrich," she told him and then walked around him. He looked down and followed her.

* * *

Odd and Clementine were carrying the CDs from the DJ toward the gym when he nudged her. They both looked over and saw Tamiya consoling Milly, again sadly. They walked over and set down the music they had to choose from for the prom to see what was wrong.

"Hey, Milly, what's wrong?" Odd asked, looking at the two sat on the ground.

"Someone stole her teddy bear," the young dark skinned girl told, looking up at the two older kids.

"And I bet it was one of the big kids out of spite," the young redhead cried.

Tamiya was looking through the pictures she had taken earlier of Sissi and Clementine's room when she saw something. "Hey, Milly, you're right. Look at this," she said.

All of them looked over her shoulders to look at the picture of the room, and in it was Milly's teddy bear.

"And look, there's my teddy bear, hidden under her pillow," the girl in the pink sweater said, wiping her cheeks of her tears. SHe pointed at her teddybear. "Incredible."

Odd laughed. "Soon she'll be playing with dolls," he joked and looked at the girls.

"Come on, we gotta find her," Milly said, suddenly on a mission.

"I wouldn't do that," Clementine said and smoothed out her dress from bending over some. She looked at Odd. "Sissi's pretty shook up."

"And plus, if Jim catches us in the dorm, we're in big trouble, Milly," Tamiya pointed out.

"It is my dorm," the maroon haired girl said, looking at her also weirdly haired friend.

"Okay, you two go back to your room," Odd told them, taking the picture. He stood and looked at his pampered companion. "We'll handle this."

They grabbed their CDs and walked off, the picture in hand and the plan in mind.

* * *

Odd and Clementine had dropped off the CDs and then went to inspect the twins' dorm and get the bear back. However, when they got there, the teddy bear was gone. Odd was confused. He looked at the picture and then at the wall and room itself.

Clementine was standing to the side. "I thought it was weird that the bear was even in here in the first place," she explained. She crossed her arms. "Sissi hadn't come in with it."

"Not to mention the room is even more of a mess than when the picture was taken," the purple clad friend noted. And it was true. The pillow was ripped up along with Sissi's posters.

They went back to the gym to help finish the set up. They were staying within the limits of hearing each other and their other three friends.

"What happened to Sissi was weird, don't you think?" Jeremie asked, listening to the CDs to make sure that they weren't scratched or messed up.

"It was a short circuit, a simple short circuit," Ulrich said, pulling at the tape.

Clementine dumped some trash into the box Odd was holding. "But that's the thing, I don't think it was." He looked up at her. "I was there just a few seconds before it all happened, and I don't think Sissi alone could cause all that damage, not even scared."

"Anyway, let's play it real cool," Yumi said as she was going through the CDs. "Walls have ears, you know." She got up and stretched, sighing. "Well, I have to get going to get ready for the prom. Sometimes being a day student sucks."

"Don't complain," Ulrich said, looking at her. "No one wakes you up at six in the morning, you have hot water, and you don't have to sleep next to smelly Odd."

* * *

Once the three of the friends that were left in the gym, Ulrich, Jeremie, and Clementine, were done helping, which was around when the sun was starting to set, they had gone outside for some fresh air. That was when Odd approached them with a paper.

He had taken a trip to the nurse's office to see what had happened to their gym teacher, Jim, who was there in the infirmary. Word was that he had gotten attacked, but no one knew by who, or in this case what.

"XANA in a teddy bear?" Ulrich asked as he looked at the paper his friend and roommate had handed him. He looked at the drawing on it, that was drawn by Jim.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Odd told him, leaning his elbow on his taller roommate.

"He's always there when you least expect him," Jeremie said after thinking about it.

"Okay, guys, who goes and who stays?" the purple clad boy asked.

"I'll call Yumi," Clementine said as she pulled out her phone and started to dial.

"I still don't like the idea of being a person down. We don't know what you'll find out there," the genius explained to him, gesturing to what was to his side even though they all knew that was not what he really meant.

"I volunteer," Odd said, putting up a hand.

"What did I just say, huh?" Jeremie asked him, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You got any other ideas? There's already been two accidents, we can't leave the school unguarded. And even if we go back in time, if there's an accident it's all over," Odd argued, making Jeremie think about it.

Clementine walked back over and looked at the boys.

"Odd's right," Ulrich said, balling up the teddy bear drawing and looking up.

"For once," the maroon haired girl said, chuckling as Odd gave her a look.

"Did you get Yumi on the phone?" he asked her.

"No, she's not picking up," Clementine reported to them. She looked between the three of them.

"Clem and I will stay, you guys go," Ulrich said, tossing the balled up paper to the dolled up girl and put his hands on the guys' shoulders. "Say hi to You-know-who for us."

Jeremie smiled, thinking of their sixth friend and blushing. He hummed a bit in confirmation, though he wasn't happy that the two of them were going to stay behind. However, he knew that they had to work fast, so he and Odd were off.

Cementine threw the paper ball at Ulrich and laughed. "I was gonna go," she told him, her tone joking and playful.

* * *

Odd and Jeremie ran to another building of the school and made sure that they were alone before opening a door. The building was abandoned and barely used by the school anymore, which was a good thing since the door they opened was a tunnel that lead them straight to the sewers. Once there, they grabbed their means of transport, Odd a skateboard and Jeremie a scooter. They rode their way through the sewer until they made it to their stop.

They climbed out and onto the start of a bridge that led to an old, abandoned factory. They ran across the bridge and made it inside, where they grabbed ahold of some old yet sturdy ropes and jumped, sliding down to an elevator and got in. They then descended down.

Jeremie got off on one lever, one with a big computer and a holomap of some sort in the middle while Odd stayed in the elevator and continued to go down on more floor.

This room was so much bigger and it contained three cylinder tubes in it arranged so their fronts were facing the middle of the room. He exited the elevator and walked up to one.

Jeremie sat down at the computer and put on a headset. "Aelita!" he called into it. "Aelita!"

"Hello, Jeremie," a girl said as her image popped onto the screen. She smiled at him.

"Aelita, we think that XANA has launched an attack. Have you noticed anything?" he asked her.

The pink haired girl shook her head. "No, but we can take a closer look," she said to him. He nodded.

"I'm sending Odd. Ulrich and Clementine had to stay behind to watch over the school for any viruses," he explained to her. He called Ulrich to make sure everything was okay and the call was hooked up to where he could be on the phone with him and still talk to Aelita."How are things with you, Ulrich?"

"It looks like we have a problem," the brunette reported.

"A big one," Clementine said, her voice sounding farther away than Ulrich's, so Jeremie assumed he was the one actually holding the phone.

Odd stepped into one of the cylinders as he heard Jeremie's voice echoing through a sound system in the room. "Transfer Odd."

The doors closed and the purple clad boy closed his eyes.

"Scanner."

He felt himself moving and starting to float.

"Virtualization."

Odd landed in a crouch, but when he opened his eyes he was in a new place. The desert sector. And he wasn't in his normal clothes anymore. He was wearing a purple outfit with pink and yellow, complete with cat clawed gloves and a tail.

He looked around and saw a familiar figure waving to him. He smiled and ran over to her.

* * *

Ulrich and Clementine were standing at a wall, or at least what used to be a wall, that perimetered the school. They looked at each other, then Ulrich took out his phone.

"Jeremie, it's bad," he told his friend. He looked at Clementine. "The bear got out of the school."

Aelita heard this. "If it's under XANA's control, it'll get much worse," she said. "It'll go for anyone that's around, especially his mortal enemies, like you"

"Yumi," the maroon haired girl said with worry. She jumped over the tree that was laying in front of her and ran off of the school grounds.

Ulrich chased after her. As they ran down the road, Ulrich stayed on the phone with their resident genius, keeping a close eye on Clementine as she ran ahead of him. Nothing good could come from this and they all had to have each other's back.

As they ran through town, he tried to call Yumi himself, but there was no answer and it was all chopped up to how fast he and Clementine could run. After all, the bear wasn't going to stop, not for anyone or anything

Luckily, the two friends were able to run up the steps of the Ishiyama residence and ring the doorbell. After a few moments, Clementine took her turn to ring the doorbell herself, pressing the button three times.

The door finally opened and there was a sense of relief between the two. Yumi smiled, unaware of their waking fear.

"Hey guys, I didn't think you'd come all this way to pick me up," she said, but the two pushed past her and into the home. This didn't make her happy. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Sorry," Ulrich said, turning to her.

"Are your parents home?" Clementine asked hurriedly.

"No, they went out," Yumi asked. It was at this time that Clem took notice of her dressed up appearance, which didn't stray too much away from her regular style.

"Okay, come on," Ulrich said and grabbed Yumi's hand. He dragged her outside, trying to get here away from her home. The principal's daughter was close to follow. "We can't stay here."

Yumi pulled away, looking at her friend weirdly. "Hey, would you mind explaining?"

There was a shake, like a small earthquake. It caused the Japanese teen to turn her head.

"No time to explain, let's go," Clementine said and lightly pushed her friend forward, prompting her and Ulrich to run ahead of her.

It was too late, though. The teddy bear was hot on their trail and had them in sight. The three were giving it their all to run as fast as they could away from the snuggly friend turned monster. Left behind them was a track of circle footprints in the ground and crushed cars.

"I hope Odd and Aelita are making it to the tower safely," Clementine said in between huffs.

"We should call," Ulrich said. Yumi grabbed their hands after they turned a corner and pulled them into a walkway. She pushed open the doors of a store and closed them.

They all sat and stayed quiet, waiting for the giant to pass them, hoping they were safe.

Clementine moved her hand back, feeling it land on someone else's. She looked up and followed the arm, though it wasn't hard to assume who it was. She pulled her hand away from Ulrich's, looking away as she mentally scolded herself for thinking so foolishly at a critical time.

Ulrich blushed and looked down, pulling out his phone and putting in one earphone into his ear. He called Jeremy and the call was picked up immediately. As he got to explaining the situation, the three of them started back on their feet.

The plan was to go to the school and evacuate so that no one was harmed. They just had to beat the bear there.

However, with their determination, they were able to make it. They stopped for a breather in the common area.

"Yumi, you clear the dorms, I'll take care of the gym," Ulrich said.

"I'll make a perimeter of the campus," Clementine said.

"No, come with me," Ulrich said, grabbing her hand in the process. Before she was able to object, he was pulling her along towards the gym while Yumi ran in the opposing direction.

Entering the gym was like walking into a Subdigitals concert. It was full of people talking and dancing, generally having a good time. The two who had just come in weren't in the party mood, however, and only cared about if all these people made it out of there with their lives.

They started looking for a way to get everyone's attention when Clementine grabbed Ulrich's arm. He looked at her.

"I say we get up on the stage and use the mic. It's our best bet now," she said. He firmly nodded and started walking again, only to bump into somebody. They both looked up, seeing Jim.

"Hey, Ulrich, you could have made a little effort," the gym teach said, looking down at the student who had been too busy to even think of dressing differently for the night. "I don't believe how sloppy you look, and walking around with Clementine on your arm when she's dressed to the T?" He wasn't questioning it, but simply trying to pose his point.

As a result of calling them out, the two teens looked at each other. Rosy blushes crossed both their cheeks, but it was hard to see in the yellow and pink altering lights. CLementine released Ulrich's arm and looked up at Jim, and he did, too, as the both of them were embarrassed now.

Jim continued, "I'll let it go this time, but try to chill out and have fun. You both look like you're expecting a disaster." He let them by and they continued on their way, only to be stopped by Clementine's twin.

Sissi reached out, stopping Ulrich with a single touch to the chest, catching him by surprise. Clementine wasn't surprised, since it seemed to be her sister's goal to make Ulrich fall madly in love with her. She bounced back quick for this single goal alone.

"Ulrich, what a surprise," she said casually, though she was being coy. "Hey, where did your date go?" She was drawing attention to the fact that Yumi was nowhere in sight, and seeing a moment of opportunity. "Next time, just call me."

"She's right here," Ulrich said with a straight face. He reached out and took Clementine's hand.

Sissi's eyes widened in shock. "What?" she all but yelled.

Ulrich's cheeks yet again blush, though this had been the plan the entire time. Yumi agreed to be Ulrich's date for two reasons. One being that Sissi wouldn't pester him about being her date and two being that Ulrich and Clementine could go to the prom together, just secretly. It wasn't a good plan, but it was a plan. It also kept Sissi none the wiser.

The a voice broke through the music and it was the twins' father, Principal Delmas, announcing that it was time to announce this year's beauty queen. Sissi was clearly upset over the fact that her crush wanted to be at the dance with her sister, but the competition was another thing she cared about, as it gave her competition, confidence, and more boost of power over the students there.

She walked away, saying something along the lines of triumph and success. Her two followers, Nicolas and Herb started to laugh.

Clementine turned her head, glaring at them. She had better, more important, things to do than to stand around listening to them and her sister boast over nothing. "What are you two bozos laughing at?"

They quickly shut up.

She gripped Ulrich's hand and started pulling him along, taking the lead. "Come on, let's get to that stage." She was clearly aggravated, but it was no one's fault really. She was tasked with saving these people and they didn't know that.

She pushed their way through the crowd to get to the front. She could see her father up there, going on about grace and charm, though she wasn't listening to him. She was trying to think of what to say to the people. Presentation was everything and in the case of the matter, time was too.

She stopped as her father paused. She looked up at him, then looked over to the stairs that led up to the stage. She let go of Ulrich's hand and cut around to it. She walked up just as her father was introducing the girls that ran for the spot of beauty queen.

She marched up to her father and swiped the mic from him. He protested, but she stopped him. "Listen up, everybody, I have something very important to say."

She still hadn't picked the right words to say, but she knew time was dwindling down for them all and she had to get these people out of here. She was beginning to question whether this was the best idea, since she was now believing that it would have been easier to sound an emergency alarm.

"We have to evacuate the gym immediately. A grave danger is coming here and it won't be stopped, people are going to get hurt," she said into the mic. Her sister walked over and tried to take it from her.

"Stop this, Clem, you're embarrassing me and yourself," she said, struggling with her sister for the mic.

"No, you have to listen," she said in a huff. She snatched the device from her sister's grip. She looked at the crowd, who all looked confused. "What are you standing here for? Go, get out of here."

"What's coming for us?" someone called from the crowd.

Clementine closed her eyes and growled into the mic "A giant teddy bear."

Everyone began to laugh and this only added onto the weight on the maroon haired girl's shoulders. No one could appreciate what she did for all of them because they couldn't know. No one could know.

"I saw it too. I knew it! I saw the giant teddy bear too!" Jim yelled out, pointing to Clementine.

"Oh, come on, stop this!" Sissi said and looked at her sister. She was angry, for more than one reason. "It's all a trick, can't you see? You're trying to keep me from winning because you're jealous of me. I always knew you were jealous of me."

Clementine turned to her sister. She took in a deep breath. "You think I'd come up here and make myself look like an idiotic fool in front of the entire school for some trick on you?" she yelled with all her breath, accidentally doing so into the microphone. It was loud and made students and teachers alike cover their ears. "You think I'd do this to you, my sister, if this wasn't important!"

"You're talking about a teddy bear," Sissi said. She scoffed. "Why not King Kong while you're at it?"

Another small earthquake shook the entire gym, followed by a crash. The teddy bear tore down the entire wall behind the twins and it made them turn to it. Sissi screamed while Clementine dropped the mic. Everyone else began to run to the exit.

The giant stuffed animal controlled by XANA crawled into the small hole it had made and onto the stage. This made Clementine step backwards as she stared up at it. Her sister and father, on the other hand, turned and ran off the stage.

Clementine soon didn't have anymore stage to walk back on and she fell backwards onto the floor of the gym. She huffed, holding her arm that she had ultimately landed on.

"Clementine!" Urich shouted, running to her from the side where he stood. He grabbed her arm, pulling her up. A giant teddy bear arm came down and tried to smash them under it, but he pulled them out of the way, causing them to fall onto the floor together. Windows broke and glass flew across the room.

The teddy was relentless, though, and brought its arm up to strike again. It's arm was coming down as Clementine was pushing herself up. She looked up and gasped. She hid her face into Ulrich's shirt as the arm got closer, and she dared not look up.

However, when nothing happened, she did. The bear was frozen in its place, as if time had stopped. She looked at Ulrich, and the two came to realize that he was holding her close to him. They both blushed and looked away. It didn't have to be said; they were both glad that the other was okay.

And they knew what was coming next.

"Ready for a trip to the past, Clementine?" Ulrich asked. She looked up at him and smiled just before a white light engulfed them.

* * *

It was back to the news reporters, Milly and Tamiya, covering the story of the school prom. However, it was just after Sissi's teasing of Milly and the young redhead was crying while Sissi and her cronies stood by. Clem stood behind Milly, consoling her by rubbing her back soothingly, though it did little to comfort her.

She turned to the gym, looking inside as a tear shed down her blushing cheeks. "Ulrich, would you be my date?" she asked.

Ulrich looked at her and smiled a bit. He walked out to her and crouched down to her level. He took a quick glance up at Clem and smiled to Milly. "I would be glad to," he told her.

Milly let out a smile. "Really?"

"Sure," he said and turned to his friend, who had not followed him out. "You're not too mad at me, are you, Yumi?" he asked her.

"Not at all," Yumi said. Beside her, Clementine winked and chuckled a bit. "Besides, my secret admirer will take me, tonight, won't you Odd?" The blonde smiled her way.

"What?" Sissi screeched from down the hall. It wasn't exactly the same exclamation she had made from before, but then again, it wasn't the same realization. She was fuming at this display, that she had been shown up by a younger student, someone she saw as a kid. She was speechless. "You're gonna go with that silly baby?"

"That's right, I sure am," Ulrich answered her. "But don't worry, when your brain gets another neuron or two, I'll go out with you too."

This made Sissy fume even more, holding in her frustration. What was even more infuriating was to realize that Tamiya was recording the entire thing. Just desserts for the beauty queen, as it would come to show.


	2. 02 Seeing is Believing (1)

Clementine was sitting beside Ulrich in the science lab. She was spinning a pencil around her fingers as she watched the front of the room, where an engineer worker stood. He was talking to the class about not only his job at the nuclear power plant, but about the plant itself and how it ran.

The maroon haired girl sat behind a video recorder, her eyes gazing between the man and the video from time to time, making sure the device was doing its job. It was vital that she was able to see and hear everything, as her learning abilities were a little difficult. It wasn't that she was disabled, but that her mind didn't work as fast as others. Her eyes had to be able to see what she was hearing or she had to read it, and in this case there were no written words. She was only left with her ability to record the lesson and come back to it later to take notes, as the man was speeding through it like a piece of cake.

She looked over at Ulrich, who was gazing out the window. He watched a flock of birds go by before he turned his attention back to the classroom. He looked at Clementine and blushed a bit, having seen that she had been watching him for who knew how long.

It wasn't long, however, luckily for her. She blushed bright pink and smiled a bit. She turned her head back as she heard their dear friend Jeremy speak up. But not only her attention was diverted to her genius friend, but everyone's was.

Their teacher, Mrs. Hertz, gave him the clearance to go on and ask his question, since he had such a good mind and was passing not only her class, but all of his classes. She expected a good, thoughtful question from him.

Jeremy stood to pose his question. "I'd like to know if an atomic process exists for fusing virtual particles and materializing them into the real world," he spoke clearly. His friends looked at him knowingly.

The engineer did not look pleased with this, a frown prominent on his face. He pushed up his glasses. "Son, that is in the realm of science fiction. Sorry," he told him with a straight face.

Mrs. Hertz walked forward, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Jeremy is an excellent student, but he's a bit of a dreamer," she explained, using that as her excuse to continue on. This only prompted the class to laugh at the genius.

Jeremy took his seat.

Clementine huffed and stopped her crossed her arms and slouched onto the lab table. She didn't like the taunting of her friend, and she so desperately wanted to do something about it, but her father had spoken to her about how she handles situations. She had a certain way of handling things and apparently other students didn't like it.

Suddenly, the projector cut off and the image the engineer had been using was gone. Mrs. Herts walked over to the device and hit a few buttons, but nothing worked.

"Certainly nothing serious. Just a blown fuse, that's all," she deduced.

Jeremy looked over to his friends. Odd shrugged, as he didn't know what to make of the small situation. Then the bell rang.

The friends all stood up and exited the building. Clementine hurried over to the front of their friend group and threw an arm around the blonde genius, smiling at him. "Don't take his words to heart, Jer. He just doesn't have the capability to understand that such a great mind discovered something as amazing as virtual materialization."

Jeremy looked at her and smiled a bit. "I suppose he couldn't have understood anyway, since we're the only ones who know about Aelita," he concluded. She nodded and let go.

"Besides, who needs a nuclear bozo like him anyway?" she said with a chuckle. "As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing nuclear about bringing Princess into the real world, so there's nothing to worry about, right?"

"That's where you're wrong, Clem, but that's alright, since the entire process of devirtualization is a complex concept," he said to her and walked out of the building.

She followed him, jumping from the top step over the two stairs that led to the ground. She landed and chuckled. She waved to Yumi, who had been waiting for the four of them since she didn't have the same class.

Sissi came out of the building and stopped. She looked over at Yumi and stared at her. She then walked away when Yumi turned her head. She smirked as she walked.

Yumi looked at her friends as they made their way over. She smiled a bit.

"Odd," a voice called. The five's attentions were turned to the principal walking their way. "I've thought it over and I've decided you can form your group, the, um, the Foxtrot Fanatics."

"Yes!" Odd cheered.

"It's the Pop Rock Progressives, sir," Yumi corrected him with a polite smile.

Mr. Delmas nodded. "But it must be open for anyone to play, is that clear?" he asked. He looked at his daughter and smiled at her. She smiled back happily.

"No problemo, sir," Odd told him. Mr. Delmas nodded, pleased, and then took leave.

Ulrich looked at Clementine. "How'd you convince him?" he asked her, knowing that she had to have helped at least a little bit into the decision making.

"I didn't have to say much," she said and shrugged. She started twirling some of her dyed hair around her finger. "I'm quite the music lover."

Yumi and Odd chuckled, but soon all diverted their attention to Odd, who was letting out his excitement and screaming to the world about the God of Rock and Roll. Clementine had to roll her eyes with a chuckle.

"Hey, come on, if we step on it, we can photocopy the leaflets before lunch," he said, standing to his feet. He looked at Jeremy, who would be the one to help him print out the handouts.

"You know me, I'm not one for rock," he said, putting his hands up. "Besides, I want to check out that outage." He then took his leave.

"Okay, see you later, Jeremy," Yumi called after him.

"I'll help you, Odd," Clementine told him. This drew a smile on his face. "I can run and make them myself, if you have one made up."

Odd clapped his hands together. "It's in my room," he told her.

* * *

Odd was walking around the cafeteria, announcing what was going on. He had a big stack of papers in his arm, the leaflets. He was handing them out to anyone that wanted one, and even to people who didn't want it. He was shouting about how the band needed a drummer and he was happy to see the interest some people had in the opening.

Clementine was watching him from her seat at one of the far tables. She shook her head and looked up at Ulrich, who was pushing his plate away in disgust.

"Oh, come on, Ulrich, they aren't that bad," she told him as she put a brussel sprout into her mouth.

"Well, you can happily take mine," he told her. She smiled, but shook her head.

"I'm fine with what I have," she told him. She took a sip of her water.

She pushed her greens around her plate a bit before looking up again. She saw Odd standing in front of Nicolas, Sissi's dear follower and friend. He held his hand out for a leaflet, but Odd smirked and turned away.

* * *

Clementine was walking towards the gym, where her friends were holding their drummer auditions. She told them that she would stop by after she wrote out her notes for her classes, which usually didn't take too long. She was excited to see who all would show up for the band anyway.

She was just about to open the door to the gym when she heard someone call out her name. She turned to see Jeremy running toward her.

"What's the matter, Jeremy?" she asked as he came to a halt before her. She placed a hand on his arm encase she'd have to catch him.

"XANA," he said simply and looked at his friend. "I'm almost sure that he's behind this energy deficiency."

"That's really weird. Why would he need to take energy from the school?" she asked as she pushed open the door to the gym.

"I don't know, but we need to let the others know," he said, following her into the gym. He was out of breath and huffing and puffing. He wiped his forehead of sweat. There was a reason Jeremy wasn't an athlete.

"What's going on?" Yumi asked as she and the guys looked to their friends.

Clementine stood behind a chair as Jeremy sat in it. She leaned against it when he sat. "Einstein has the idea that XANA is draining the school of its power."

"The currents are cutting out all over the school, and the pylon outside is way over the voltage limit," Jeremy explained. He was worried, and his voice expressed it. "It could explode."

"But why would XANA do that?" Ulrich asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine," the blonde genius said.

The door opened and in walked Sissi, Nicholas and Herb in toe behind her. She came in with a taunt, getting into her father's say about everyone being able to audition. She had a smug tone to her voice as she was having too much fun with the idea of bugging them.

"Okay, guys, I'm off," Jeremy said. He had plans to sort everything out.

Clementine looked at him, then nodded to the others. "I'll join him," she said, following after her friend. She knew when she could be of any assistance to him. She also didn't want to stay and be nagged by her sister, whom she also couldn't call out for her actions - not unless she wanted trouble.


	3. 03 Seeing is Believing (2)

Clementine stood lent against the wall of the factory. She crossed her arms, not liking the conversation being held between her friends. She didn't like the idea of one of her really good friends being put into a compromising position like this. Aelita didn't deserve to lose her life just because XANA wanted to blow up the city.

"Then I vote for," Aelita said. Jeremy turned to her in surprise. "I don't want innocent people to die because of me."

Clementine huffed, looking down and unfolding her arms. "Then I guess someone should go tell my father."

"I'll do it," Yumi volunteered.

"No, I'll go," Clementine said and taking a deep breath. "If all is to go well, you're a more valuable fighter on Lyoko than I am."

"Clem, I can-"

"No yumi, please, let me do this," she told her and rubbed her arm. "You go. It'll all be okay."

Jeremy looked around at his friends with a sorrow in his eyes. "If this is what you want, then the three of you head to the scanners. Clem will go to the principle."

Clementine walked to the ladder and started up. "I'll see you all soon."

Ulrich watched her go, sighing. "Let's hope."

"Scanners, now," Jeremy said, getting situated at the super computer.

* * *

Clementine crawled out of the manhole and sat in the grass as she covered it. She looked up at the pylon from where she sat, seeing it over the trees. The sparks of electricity was a scary sight. She licked her lips and got up.

She ran towards the school. She couldn't believe that this was happening. The entire school could blow up. Her sister, her father, the city, her friends. Everyone and everything. She believed in her friends, though, that they would be able to deactivate the tower in time and make for a easy recovery after this attack. She wasn't worried, or so she kept telling herself.

She walked into her father's office and looked at them. She rubbed her arm. "Daddy, there's something I have to tell you. It's very important."

He was with Miss. Hertz and the scientist from the nuclear power plant. She could see that the entire school had run out of power now, something they all must think is very strange.

"What is it, dear?"

"The nuclear power plant," she said, looking down. "It's going to blow up."

"Clementine Delmas, look at me," her father said and she did. "Whatever nonsense has gotten into your head is making you think crazy. What reason do you have for believing the power plant will blow up?"

She froze up, running a hand through her hair. "I uh, I heard it on the news." She chickened, but it was for Aelita. She couldn't lose someone so close to her.

"Silly girl," the scientist said. She looked at him, then down at her feet. "There are precautions in place to keep such things from ever happening."

"I'm sorry," she said and inched toward the door. "I'll go."

She left the building and hit herself in the head. "What were you thinking? Now Jeremy and the others are going to never entrust you with something like that again." She groaned and shook her head.

She started running toward the pylon. Maybe there was something there that she could do to slow it down or stop it, at least for enough time for the others to find and deactivate the tower.

Her phone rang and she answered it. "Jeremy, my father said I was crazy. They didn't believe me."

"Well, then that makes all of us. We can't find the tower," he informed her.

She stopped at the gates of the school. "What do you mean?"

"It's nowhere to be seen, off the map and the pulsations have stopped," he explained.

The sparks in the pylon jumped and almost seemed to be dancing. She looked down at the officers and workers trying to turn off the pylon. She bit her lips. She didn't know whether to walk over there or not. She could tell them, but she knew they wouldn't believe her.

"I'm going to try again," she told Jeremy.

"Alright, I'll keep you updated," he told her, then killed the line.

* * *

"Guys, Clem's having trouble convincing anyone of the situation," Jeremy informed the others. They had found the loophole and the tower, and were making their way to it.

"We may not need her to," Odd said.

"Don't speak so fast," Ulrich said as they came to the tower. Three krabs guarded the structure.

"One for each of us," Yumi said.

"Hurry, guys, the pylon is getting close to 90 percent," Jeremy warned.

Aelita ran for cover as her three protectors got ready to battle. Odd ran to cover Aelita as a krab pursued her.

After Yumi took down one krab with the assistance of Ulrich, the two tag teamed the krab in front of them.

"Odd!" Aelita let out. His devirtualized body disappeared and left Aelita uncovered.

Ulrich quickly ran to her aid and blocked a harmful laser from the creature. He glared at the monster before taking a running start and jumping at it, stabbing it directly in its eye marking and quickly getting away before it could knock him back with its explosion.

"You okay, Aelita?" She nodded to him just as Yumi finished off the last creature.

"It's all yours," Yumi said to the pink haired princess.

"I'll call Clem," Jeremy said.

He clicked away at the keys and listened to the dial tone. "No answer."

"That's weird," Odd commented. He leaned over the genius and at the picture of Clementine on the screen. Jeremy dialed again. "She always answers at a time like this."

"Jeremy," her voice rang through.

"Clem, we have the tower," the blonde informed her. "All will be well soon."

"I sure hope so, everyone thinks I'll lost my mind," she said. She huffed as she told off one of the workers trying to talk to her. "I don't need you to tell me how the pylon works, all I need is-" she was interrupted by her own scream. There was a clatter and a lot of noise from the other end.

"Clementine!" Jeremy shouted, alarmed. Odd grabbed the chair and watched the call end.

"What happened?"

"The pylon is at 100 percent," Jeremy told them all. He watched the number blink at him, then suddenly go down. His racing heart relaxed and he sat back, but his worries weren't over. "You did it."

"But what about Clementine?" Ulrich asked.

"We'll have to launch a return to the past," the genius answered.

"I agree."

* * *

Jeremy and Clementine were watched their friends perform. She was huddled in her chair as Sissi and Herb sat in front of them She clapped when the song ended and smiled, though she didn't look all that thrilled.

"That was super nuclear guys," Jeremy told them. Clem looked at him, glaring at his bad inside joke. "You're gonna make this town explode."

She hit his arm. "Not funny, Jer."

Their friends laughed and she smiled, at least a little bit.


End file.
